| Westbury
& United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 21/12/03 |
| Team |
Opponents |
|
League |
Scr |
Scorers |
|
1st
XI |
No
fixture |
|
|
|
|
|
2nd
XI |
Bristol |
H |
Friendly |
Can |
|
|
3rd
XI |
Bath
Buccs V |
H |
Friendly |
Can |
|
|
Wanderers |
No
fixture |
|
|
|
|
|
Wizards |
Bath
Buccs VI |
A |
Friendly |
3-3 |
Taylor
T 2 Cutts |
|
Warriors |
No
fixture |
|
|
|
|
| Match
comments |
| Comment:
With
a paucity of games the Chairman and the Club Captain fielded an
eleven each in a challenge match on Saturday. The Club Captain’s
team talk at the start of the game must have been something like:
“Let’s pressure them and not give them any space to play in. Let’s
move the ball around slickly and attack with pace. Let’s use Bombers
skills to exploit any gaps down our right and fire in as many shots
as we can.” His team did all these things and looked very effective
going forward.
The
Chairman’s team talk was: “Let’s take this game very seriously and
enjoy it.” M’Lud’s team had little space to play in and were under
constant pressure yet at half time they were leading 2-0! Simon
Baker exploited only the second attack of the half with a stunning
shot and Martin Travis worked the ball in from the wing for Martin
Palmer to have three shots in rapid fire saved by the Pete Murphy,
but the ball ran loose to Simon Baker who slotted the ball in with
Pete stranded.
In
the second half M’Lud’s team posed more of a threat going forward
but Andy Griffin’s side continued to press for a goal. Clint Bryers
was in outstanding form making countless saves some from very close
range. When he was beaten at last, a powerful strike by Nick Evans
hit Clint’s right hand post, the ball rebounded to Bees who hammered
the ball at goal only to hit the other post. Simon Baker had the
chance from the spot to complete his hat-trick, but his powerful
flick flew just over the cross-bar. Bomber did manage a consolation
goal with the last touch of the game.
The
game was played seriously in good spirit |
| Wizards:
In the only
surviving fixture the Wizards travelled to Bath and earned a 3-3 draw.
|
| Westbury
& United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 13/12/03 |
| Team |
Opponents |
|
League |
Scr |
Scorers |
|
1st
XI |
City
of Bath |
A |
Friendly |
7-4 |
Moon
3 Colquhoun 2 Poulsom Frost J |
|
2nd
XI |
City
of Bath |
H |
Friendly |
Can |
|
|
3rd
XI |
City
of Bath |
A |
Friendly |
1-6 |
Taylor
T |
|
Wanderers |
City
of Bath |
H |
Friendly |
3-1 |
Crofts
2 Millman S |
|
Wizards |
N
Somerset |
H |
Friendly |
3-2 |
Callis
N Coles Coulton |
|
Warriors |
v
Leominster III |
H |
Div
NE W 4 |
1-5 |
Harvey |
| Match
comments |
| Comment:
|
1st
XI: The first team kept up their winning ways with comprehensive
win against City of Bath. Bees went to great pains to point out
to me the cameo appearance of a talented left wing, who, in his
8 minutes on the pitch had a hand in several goals.
One wonders why he turned out briefly in the forwards rather
than at sweeper! Moonie grabbed his first ever hat-trick for the
club. |
2nd
XI: The
seconds had a late cancellation by City of Bath who suddenly remembered
at the last minute they had a club do! Nick Morton went to a lot
of effort to offer the twos a game but lines of communication were
down. |
3rd
XI: The
thirds suffered only their second defeat of the season after 11
straight wins (which must be a record). Going by their form this
year I wonder if they came up against the opposition that should
have played the twos? |
Wanderers:
Tufty,
George Banting and Cocksy told me that they had a very good team
performance against City of Bath. The score was tied 1-1 at half-time.
In the second half Bath were reduced to 10 men through injury and
the Wanderers exploited the extra space to win convincingly.
|
Wizards:
The Wizards
put on a superb show of slick passing in their game against N Somerset
who fielded some first team players. The Wizards found themselves
2-0 down and deprived of a penalty stroke after a clear hand-ball
on the line. However, by half time they had pulled both goals back.
In the second half N Somerset weathered
a storm of Wizard’s attacks and looked dangerous on the break
themselves. The Wizards create a host of scoring chance before Mark
Coulton scrambled in the ball after yet another period of goal mouth
action. Gareth Nichols looked very classy in a team that moved the
ball forward with superb passing moves. Chris Cutts, Neil Callis
and James Lampey caused all sorts of problems for the N Somerset
defence, but Martin Eland had to excel to keep the lead with 3 splendid
saves in as many seconds near the end. |
Warriors: In
contrast Mr Inconsistency visited the Warriors who crashed to a
5-1 defeat against a strong Leominster side that included Andy Connop,
who had previously had a long career playing for Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
and the West of England. The Warriors were dysfunctional in many
of the basic skills. 16 yard hits consistently found blue and yellow
shirts, whilst passing from the midfield was equally unsuccessful.
The best (and probably only) decent move of the game came from Dave
Holiday’s pass to Mike Harvey. Mike went one-on-one with the goalkeeper
to score a fine goal to pull it back to 2-1. However, another gift
from the defence enable Leominster to restore their advantage soon
after. Leominster pressed home their superiority and scored two
late goals. The gap between the quality of play produced by the
Wizards and the Warriors looked enormous on the day |
| Westbury
& United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 6/12/03 |
| Team |
Opponents |
|
League |
Scr |
Scorers |
|
1st
XI |
v
Bath Buccs III |
A |
Div
1N |
5-1 |
Webster
3 Frost J 2 |
|
2nd
XI |
v
Cheltenham II |
H |
Div
3N |
4-3 |
Moon
2 Foster Pearce-Smith |
|
3rd
XI |
v
Lansdown III |
A |
Div
NE W1 |
4-3 |
Small
2 Frost M Barnes |
|
Wanderers |
v
Weston III |
H |
Div
NE W 2 |
6-0 |
Brown
2 Cocks Millman S Crofts
Rickard |
|
Wizards |
v
N Bristol IV |
A |
Div
NE W 3 |
4-0 |
Callis
N 2 Cutts Coles |
|
Warriors |
v
O Bristolians IV |
H |
Div
NE W 4 |
2-3 |
Sheppard
Palmer M |
| Match
comments |
| Comment:
The
first half of the league campaigns have been impressive for all
six teams.
| Division
1N |
Pl |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
Pts |
| Westbury
& UB |
10 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
43 |
10 |
33 |
26 |
| Division
3N |
Pl |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
Pts |
| West Glos. A |
10 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
37 |
7 |
30 |
24 |
| Neath |
9 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
27 |
15 |
12 |
20 |
| Westbury
& UB 2nd XI |
10 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
25 |
18 |
7 |
18 |
| Division
NE W1 |
Pl |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
Pts |
| Westbury
& UB 3rd XI |
10 |
10 |
2 |
0 |
43 |
13 |
30 |
30 |
| Division
NE W 2 |
Pl |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
Pts |
| Clevedon |
10 |
7 |
3 |
0 |
37 |
7 |
30 |
24 |
| Old Bristolians B |
10 |
7 |
0 |
3 |
35 |
22 |
13 |
21 |
| Westbury
& UB Wanderers |
10 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
25 |
18 |
7 |
18 |
| Division
NE W 3 |
Pl |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
Pts |
| Clevedon |
10 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
25 |
12 |
13 |
25 |
| Westbury
& UB Wizards |
10 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
22 |
10 |
12 |
19 |
| Division
NE W 4 |
Pl |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Diff |
Pts |
| Old Bristolians C |
9 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
27 |
9 |
18 |
24 |
| Hereford C |
10 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
29 |
14 |
15 |
18 |
| Firebrands E |
9 |
5 |
1 |
3 |
25 |
14 |
11 |
16 |
| Westbury
& UB Warriors |
9 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
25 |
19 |
6 |
15 |
|
1st
XI:The first team brushed aside Baths Buccs with a
second successive hat-trick from Tony Webster. Frosty rediscovered
his scoring touch with two goals. The firsts have completed the
first half of the season unbeaten. Tony has also pointed out that
they have an unbeaten 20 match run of home games in the league!
|
2nd
XI: The
seconds saw off Cheltenham in what looks like a close game, with
Moonie scoring twice and Phil Foster opening his account for the
club. |
|
3rd
XI: The thirds remain unbeaten they also
notched up a 4-3 victory. After Ian Small’s forum banter about goal-scoring,
he proved his point with 2 goals.
|
Wanderers:
The Wanderers
were anticipating a bruising encounter today. In a previous match
Gouldy had been walloped by one of today’s opponents, although with
some of his ‘pirouetting performances’ there have been occasions
when his own team might have thought about giving doing the same.
I believe Basil was in the threes today, perhaps this was a tactical
move to avoid a rematch. The Wanderers were clearly way ahead of
their opposition winning by a handsome six goal margin. |
Wizards:
The Wizards
made it a second 4-0 canter against North Bristol. There is a strong
alliteration theme with their goal-scorers with Callis, Cutts
& Coles Collecting the Credit. |
Warriors: The
Warriors raised their game for their meeting with top-of-the-table
O Bs and looked the more dominant side throughout the first half,
although they only carved out a couple of goal-scoring chances.
In the second half O Bs scored in the 2nd minute and
then from a penalty stroke to lead 2-0. The warriors then shifted
back into top gear and scored with a superb short corner strike
from Shep. Shep hit the post from another short a few minutes later.
With 35 minutes up, Dave Holiday’s decisive pass found Martin Palmer,
who slotted in the equaliser. It looked like ‘a job well done’ and
a point secured. Unfortunately in time added on, a ball into the
Warriors D eluded two defender’s sticks and O Bs scored a soft goal
to win the match. The Warriors came agonisingly close to getting
a draw and were never out-classed by the division leaders. Dave
Holiday had an impressive game at centre half. |
|